Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal service organization that was founded by Father Michael J. McGivney on 29 March 1882 in New Haven, Connecticut. The Knights of Columbus was named after the Catholic Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, with the founders expressing their belief that Catholics could not only be full members of American society, but that they also played a key role in its foundation. The Knights initially served as a mutual benefit society to working class and immigrant Catholics in the United States, but it developed into a fraternal benefit society devoted to providing charitable services, including war and disaster relief, promoting Catholic education and Catholic public policy positions, and actively defending Catholicism in various nations. Pope John Paul II described the Order as "the strong right arm of the Church".

The Knights of Columbus had 1,918,122 members in nearly 15,000 councils (with 302 on college campuses) as of 2016. Membership is limited to practical Catholic men above the age of eighteen, and there are councils in the USA, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, Poland, the Dominican Republic, Panama, the Bahamas, Cuba, Guatemala, South Korea, Ukraine, Lithuania, and on US military bases and territories across the world. The Knights have an insurance program with 2,000,000 contracts, and they promote social and intellectual fellowship through educational, charitable, and social welfare works. Charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism are the four principal values of the Knights, meant to strengthen community ties.

The Knights of Columbus supports political activity and awareness, and the order supports pro-life causes, opposes same-sex marriage, defends religious liberty, and promotes faithful citizenship. During the Cristero War in Mexico during the 1920s, six killed Knights would become canonized. In 1954, the Knights successfully lobbied for "Under God" to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance, and 12 October became "Columbus Day" as the result of the order's lobbying. The Knights support some liberal causes such as granting amnesty to illegal immigrants, in keeping with their Christian morals.